


Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS! Mammon's Wrath

by And Then The Sky (DemonLordMammon)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Paring not decided as of yet, References to the Evillious Chronicles, Side note: Most of the OCs are absolute pricks, Slight Canon Divergence, Y'know I have an issue with writing non dickish characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-04-29 19:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14479344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonLordMammon/pseuds/And%20Then%20The%20Sky
Summary: Sateriasis Marlon is a sixteen year old student who is better known by his alter-ego Mammon, a relentless hunter currently contracted to the Knights of Hanoi tasked with the elimination of Playmaker. He's regarded by many as a highly dangerous individual with no sense of morality but you know what they say about assuming.





	1. Judgment of Corruption

“Consider my proposition here.” A man spoke towards a sixteen year old teen “I’m offering you a good deal here. You get your money and I get a troublesome person removed from the scene it’s a win for both of us in layman’s terms.” The man’s smirk widened at the thought of finally eliminating the person in question.

The teen spoke in a very flat tone with a very distinctive lack of inflection and empathy “Fine by me but show me the money first, I want to see that I will indeed receive what you are offering, I don’t do empty jobs.”

“I knew you’d say something like that. So…” The man took a brown envelope from his jacket and passed it to the teen “You can take the payment now if you wish… Sateriasis” Opening the envelope, Sateriasis’ eyes widened then shrunk with intent, smirking he responded “I’ll do as you wish, Playmaker will be destroyed by any means required.”

Sateriasis Marlon had relatively pale skin a common trait amongst his family, his blood red eyes that often contrasted heavily to his skin tone, his hair was quite a long purple colour and went down to the middle of his back when not tied back as it often was. Currently he was wearing a black hooded jacket with golden trims, a navy blue t-shirt, sliver jeans held up by a black belt with a golden buckle and finally he was wearing grey combat boots that shot his height up from 5’11 to 6’1. Buckled to his arm was a diamond shaped green duel disk that had a black wrist band.

“If this meeting is over, I’ll be on my way. May I ask your name in case we ever meet again?” Sateriasis said pulling up his hood and tucking the envelope under his arm.

“There are somethings you don’t need to know just yet, my name is one of them but trust me when I say we’ll meet again very soon.”

“Humph. Alright then…” Sateriasis made his way out of the secluded alleyway he was in and travelled towards where he lived. He didn’t have any parents to go home to as they’d kicked the bucket and the only person he was ever close to in anyway was out of commission.

Working his way through the crowd of people gathered at the centre of the city, he ran into a certain person he was ‘acquainted to’ “Sateriasis! Sateriasis!” The person shouted out upon spotting his ‘friend’.

Sateriasis sighed heavily “Yes? What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy?” He held up the envelope to prove his claim “Oh…I’m sorry, didn’t realise you had a job. I just thought we might watch the upcoming duels in Link Vrains, Y’know like friends.”

Sateriasis was about to reject this offer but quickly thought better of it “Actually. Y’know what, I will take you up on that Allen.” Allen’s eyes lit up “Really? You mean it?!”

“Sure. Who are the main ones?” He asked half curious as he had the intent to interfere if the situation dictated it.

“I believe It’s Go Onizuka and Blue Angel!” Sateriasis’ face soured at the last name.

“That airheaded optimist!” Allen caught wind quickly, knowing of his immense ‘dislike’ of Blue Angel “Sat. I know you don’t like her but we’re in a public location do calm it.”

‘ _It’s all a ploy anyway, all smoke and mirrors, throw enough shiny lights in someone’s face and they’ll lose sight of the world around them!’_ Sateriasis thought spitefully, information he had received said that something big was set to happen this day.

This intelligence was confirmed when he and Allen heard a cacophony of screams coming from multiple VR avatars on the screen as they were brutally deleted by the scorching flames that came from a black scaled dragoon which had appeared seemingly out of thin air and started attacking Link VRAINS.

‘ _Wait, who’s that..?’_ His attention was drawn to a figure that stood confidently upon the Dragon’s head who was wearing a white robe and hid their face with a grey mask.

“Hanoi!” Allen exclaimed “Sat, do something!”

Sateriasis moved away without saying a word to Allen “Hey Sat where are you going?!” All that was given in return was a three fingered gesture.

Sateriasis raced to his apartment as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. Locking his door, he then went off to another section of the room that was laden with a keypad. _‘1068’_ He quickly punched in the code revealing his access room to Link VRAINS. He calmly strode into the centre.

“Into the...VRAINS!" shouted Sateriasis as his body got surrounded by data and 'Into the VRAINS' flashed on his Duel Disk.    

“Welcome to Link VRAINS! Mammon!” Greeted Sateriasis’ disk AI with the user name he had developed an infamous reputation with.

Sateriasis now had one emerald green eye and one royal purple eye, to make sure no similarities other than speech pattern were noted his hair was much shorter and was spiky that shot out in multiple directions at the back to form an ‘X’ shape, it also changed colour from purple to blue. His getup consisted of a jet black outfit that had zigzagging purple lines periodically crossing each other to form multiple symbols that only bore relevance to him, his boots didn’t change and he wore pure white gloves. On his belt there were numerous devices and tools.

He had joined standing on a rooftop, not too far away from the ensuing carnage.

"Vanish!" a voice shouted with temerity. Mammon turned around to see the Knight of Hanoi on its dragon as it unleashed fire towards Blue Angel. He watched on with eager anticipation at the final destruction of his most hated person in all of Link VRAINS. 

To his surprise and massive dismay, a mysterious Individual had saved the Charisma Duelist from her impending doom.

“Who are you?!” The knight shouted angered and incredibly annoyed at the fact his mission had been compromised

"My name is Playmaker." he responded as he raised his arm, revealing his Duel Disk with an eye in it. "I have what you're looking for. Stop attacking Link VRAINS; If you don't I'll erase it right now!" This was perhaps the best case scenario for Mammon, an up and coming match between his target and his current employer.

“Hey!” The eye exclaimed loudly glaring daggers at Playmaker “Don’t treat your saviour as a hostage.”

“I’ve converted this program into a duel program,” Playmaker said mentally tuning out and ignoring the A.I. “If you want it you are going to have to beat me in a duel!”

“This’ll be fun…” Mammon grinned wildly at the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Fine!” The knight hissed then smirked “You’ll learn what happens when you oppose Hanoi!”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Playmaker said stoically.

The two began to move to another area, the city area to be exact with Mammon swiftly following suit via the still intact rooftops. They both glared at each other with nothing but pure intent to defeat their opposing number.

It was then the A.I. In Playmaker’s disk began to glow purple whilst it started to speak “Cyberse! Release data material!”

‘ _Cyberse? Interesting…’_ Mammon thought hard at the AI’s words.

Without warning a pillar of light shot out of Playmaker’s disk, causing a portal to open up in the sky that from which a purple stream poured out of.

The powerful gust that blew against Mammon caught him completely off guard, something very unusual for someone that was always on top of things as Sateriasis was. “Wind…But how is this happening…”     

While he was busy trying to reaffirm his own grasp on the situation, a second development once again blind sighted him. Playmaker had jumped into the air and landed upon a D-Board which had zoomed to meet him. He was now surfing the wind, so to say.

“It’s a data storm.” He’d finally reaffirmed his grasp on the situation, just enough to be sure of himself.

The knight too surfed the storm on top of his own board. _‘Speed duel huh? I guess that should spice things up a bit…’_ Personally he was more familiar towards the more advanced version, the master duel. But since multiple factors led into his work he wasn’t that clueless however he took the leisure to run over the rules in his head.

‘ _In a Speed Duel, there are three Main Monster Zones, along with two Extra Monster Zones.  Instead of five, there are three Spell/Trap Zones just like the Main Monster Zones. To compound this, you start with only four cards in your hand and the Main Phase 2 is non-existent. All in all it gives you a different challenge to normal._ ’

Observing from his post he witnessed the knight take the first move, summoning two weak monsters to use as tribute fodder for his most powerful monster. The one he rode when he first arrived onto the scene. A monster known as Cracking Dragon.

‘ _Looks like it’s all-guns-a-blazing for Hanoi!’_ Mammon tapped his forearm three times _‘Playmaker has got a mountain to climb if he wants to win.’_

Playmaker took the next turn, drawing as if his life depended on it. To begin with he placed two cards face down then keeping the fact that there was no Main Phase 2 in mind, he summoned Cyberse Wizard.  Which as is suggested was a Cyberse monster.

_‘Cyberse monster…I thought they didn’t exist anymore, Playmaker…What an interesting character.’_

Cracking Dragon’s effect triggered instantly, lowering Wizard’s attack and dealing decent damage to Playmaker. This move was quickly countered however when Playmaker activated his monster’s ability to switch the destructive black dragon into defence mode evening managing to use this to deal piercing damage but due to the dragon’s effect it was protected from destruction.

It seemed that the match was at a deadlock for now.

But that changed dramatically upon the activation of the knight’s skill, DDoS attack which cut down Playmaker’s life points significantly, the shockwave knocked him from his board and it would’ve sent him crashing down to earth had it not been for Blue angel who appeared and rescued Playmaker returning the favor he did for her. 

Mammon felt a mixture of emotions following that event, one he was happy that Playmaker had been saved as it gave him the honour of finishing off the proclaimed ‘Hero of Vrains’ but second he disliked the fact that it was Blue Angel who had intervened to save him.

“You there!” Came a voice behind him making him break off eye contact with the duel and turn to face his own intruder.

“Yes what do you want?” He asked in his altered voice, another pro caution he had taken in an attempt to hide his identity, It now had an almost ghost like quality.

 “You’re Mammon aren’t you?” The individual asked his own question completely ignoring Sateriasis’ one.

“Depends. Who am I talking to?” The individual in question was clad in a blue uniform that had his collar flipped up and pressed against his neck. His uniform consisted of a pair of black trousers, a royal blue jacket that its collar upturned and what appeared to be a symbol of sorts. Furthermore he was wearing brown combat boots and concealed his face via a mask. His hair was a stark white and incredibly messy with some of it even drooping over the mask.

“I gather you’re a bounty hunter yourself?” Mammon nodded, not really too interested in the situation “You may well be surprised to know that I’m one myself, I work for SOL Technologies you see, and they’re very interested in you.”

“I guess my reputation proceeds me if they are interested in me. May I ask who exactly you are?”

“My name is Colt.” He said with a tone flat enough to almost reach Sateriasis’ level.

“To answer your starting question, I am indeed the person you are looking for but now I want the answer to my question what do you want?”

“You see SOL have tasked me to hunt down and defeat any troublemakers in the system and your name was at the head of the list.” Colt revealed the cobalt blue disk that was attached to his arm.

“You’ve come to challenge me then in layman’s terms.” Colt nodded at Mammon’s analogy. “Well then! So be it!” He revealed his own disk.

 **“Duel!”**  The two hunters shouted beginning the Master Duel.

**Turn 1**

“I’ll be going first if you don’t mind!” Mammon said as five holographic cards appeared floating in the air before him, 2 monsters, 2 spells and a trap.

“I begin by activating the continuous spell **Network Corruption!** ” The card art depicted a string of binary text which was beginning to turn into a bunch of indecipherable gibberish, in the shadows, two monsters could be seen supposedly the ones causing the corruption. One of them was a grinning imp while the other was a devilish dragon.

“Network Corruption grants me the ability to once per turn add one of my level four or lower ‘corruption’ monsters to my hand and all I have to do to sustain this ability is pay five hundred life points on my standby phases!” He searched through the cards available to him, finally settling on one after a while. 

“I add to my hand the level 2 monster **Corruption Gear!** Now since neither of us control a monster I can summon this monster from my hand! Come on out level 5 **Greedy Corruption Demon!** ” 

Greedy Corruption Demon was a maniacal hell spawn for lack of a better term. It had blood red wings, horns and pointed tail that contrasted with his black scaly skin. Razor sharp teeth were visible when the creature opened its mouth. Its eyes had an unnatural yellow glow to them, usually striking fear into Mammon’s opponent.

 _Greedy Corruption Demon Level 5, fiend, DARK_ ( **2500/** 1300)

“Now there is a great cost to this bonus, since I summoned him this way one thousand of his attack points are rendered effectively null and void.” A black mist formed over the top of the demon and drained the thousand points away.

Greedy Corruption Demon Atk: **2500 - 1500**

“What was the point in summoning him if he’s just going to be weakened?” Colt was unable to comprehend Mammon’s line of reasoning for weakening his own monster, while the blue haired duelist in question merely tutted at his opposite number.    

“You’ll find out right now! Left unchecked corruption can ravage a system, destroying countless hours of work and decades of progress! Using his effect from my hand I summon my Corruption Gear to the field!”

Corruption gear was an old rusted cog that appeared to have suffered from heavy metal fatigue and corrosion as bits of it could be seen falling off.

_Corruption gear Level 2, fiend, Dark (0/ **1000** )_

“Corruption Gear can be summoned to my side of the field so long as another corruption monster is present and said monster has attack below 2000.” Mammon explained trying his hardest not to burst out laughing so as not to look insane.

“That’s why you summoned your demon first, you used his weakness to your advantage. Not bad if I do say so myself.” Colt was becoming more and more interested in his target by the second.

“Why thank you! But I’m not done just yet! I use my normal summon for the turn to summon forth **Paladin of Corruption!** ”

This monster was a knight in shining armour…If you discount the half of the body that was covered by a black oozing sludge, it also had a tattered red cape that swung over the right side of its body. The sword it wielded was tarnished, looking like it too had fallen victim to corrosion.

 _Paladin of Corruption_ _Level 4, fiend, Dark_ ( **1600** /1200)

Mammon ginned wildly causing Colt to become slightly concerned “Now! Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all!” Mammon continued as he appeared in the link square “Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three ‘Corruption’ monsters! I set Paladin of Corruption, Greedy Corruption Demon and Corruption Gear into the link markers!” The three monsters transformed into black electricity jolts.

“Link summon! Link 3! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!”

Mammon’s ace was massive, it could easily be seen a mile away which it was by a frog avatar and a pigeon one that clutched the frog tightly in its talons.

“I don’t think anything else is happening.” The pigeon spoke “Playmaker’s done with that knight and those two were the only ones online.”

“Don’t worry about it! I’m certain our big break is just around the corner!” The frog said with a certain fire about him.

“As if! I mean we’re not just going to go round this corner and see the most terrifying dragon known to man!”

Cue Sod’s law as the two passed the last building on the block and came into view of Corruption Dragon.

“Oh my GOD!” The pigeon screamed, startled by Mammon’s dragon, so badly taken back that he nearly lost his grip upon his frog companion.

Corruption Dragon was covered with black and blue scaly armour that stood on two clawed feet, it had four wings on its back, the top two were blue and bigger than the lower set of black ones, its head was covered with four horns two on its forehead and the remaining two was placed underneath its chin. The eyes were over a sliver colour that like GCD had an unnatural glow to them. It had a tail that split into two at the end with each ending have detailed golden tip.

 _Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark,_ ( **2400** ) **Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right**.

“Isn’t she just wonderful?” Mammon said looking up in twisted glee at his dragon.

‘ _This guy’s mental…’_ Colt thought growing ever more disturbed by Mammon.

“Unfortunately since this is the first turn, I can’t attack and have no other choice than to delay the inevitable, I place one card facedown and pass it off to you my fellow hunter.”

**Turn 2**

“I have to finish this before it gets any worse…” Colt muttered under his breath as he brought his hand over to draw. “I draw!”

“To start with a play my **Enigma Code** spell card!” The card art was that of an infamous code used during the times of a dire war “Now unlike your card, this is a one for one, with it I can add any monster in my deck that has 2000 or lower attack points.”

“Basically inferior in layman’s terms.” Mammon commented uninterested

“I now summon **Codecracker Signal Operator!** ” The monster that appeared was a military man that had an earpiece in his ear and was carrying on him a radio that was spurting out static that was periodically interrupted by a stream of numbers.

  _Codecracker Signal Operator_ , _level 4, warrior, EARTH ( **1600** /400)_

“By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can activate Signal Operator’s ability!” The monster leaned in closer to the radio and began to tune it “Signal Operator can call up another Codecracker in my hand to the field of battle!”

“Please welcome **Codecracker Drone!** ”

A small black circular drone began to fly across Colt’s field.

_Codecracker Drone Level 1 (0/ **200)**_

“What could that thing do except pester me.” Mammon said miffed at the constant droning of the turboprops as it began to fly over him.

“Don’t jump the gun. I activate his effect!” The drone then shot a beam of code at Mammon’s disk “I get to send the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for every monster sent there you take 500 points of damage!”

The top three cards of the blue haired hunter’s deck was shown, it consisted of two monsters and one trap card.

“You have two monsters, so that means you’ll be taking 1000 points of damage!” The drone opened up its Bombay doors and let loose a small yet powerful payload that obliterated the area surrounding where Mammon stood.

‘ _That should’ve knocked him out of commission…’_ But as the smoke cleared the opposite was clear and all Colt was able to do was gasp.

“You really thought that’d be enough to beat me?” Mammon said with the twisted look still not leaving his face. Despite the fact that he was now precariously perched on the edge of the roof top, having been blown back by the force. 

Mammon’s LP: **4000 – 3000**

 _‘Damnit!’_ Colt thought, he then looked down at his hand to see if there was any way he could get rid of Corruption Dragon.

“I place two cards facedown and end my turn.” Colt said unable to think his way out of the situation just yet.

**Turn 3**

“Then the pleasure is all mine!” Mammon said as he smirked when he realized what he had just drawn.

“Your spell card’s effect activates here!” Colt shouted “You lose 500 life points!”

Mammon’s LP: **3000 – 2500**

“I play **Corrupted Twin Twister!** ” This card depicted art very similar to the original twin twister but in the background Corruption Dragon’s eyes could be seen and a dark claw was emerging, that made contact with the second twister turning some of it black.

“Much like the original Twin Twister to activate this card I first must send one card from my hand to the graveyard but here’s where the differences start. First I destroy one spell card on my field!” Network Corruption burst into particles as Mammon continued to explain this cards effect “Then one of your facedowns is destroyed…I think the left will be my target!”

Colt’s trap flipped face up and was shattered almost instantly.

“Finally since the card I sent to the graveyard was a monster card I get to destroy one of your monsters! This drone’s annoyed me long enough!” The drone was ripped from the air and sent crashing back down to earth.

“Battle! Corruption Dragon! Attack Codecracker Signal Operator! Judgment of Corruption!” Corruption Dragon let loose a stream of black electrical jolts that smashed hard into Colt’s monster obliterating it in the process.

Colt’s LP: **4000 – 3200**

“Corruption Dragon’s effect! When it destroys a monster it allows me to summon it to one of the zones my link monster points to,” Out of a purple vortex Signal Operator appeared but this time it was drenched in sludge and had the occasional spasm. “Corruption Dragon gains attack points equal to the levels of the monsters linked it x200!”

Corruption Dragon ATK: **2400 – 3200**

“Do you want to know the best part Colt?” Mammon asked with a sly look on his face “I can use your own monster to attack you!”

“What!” Colt shouted.

“Signal Operator bend to my corrupted will! Attack your master directly!” The force and sheer ferocity of the strike launched Colt skidding across the roof on his back.

Colt’s LP: **3200 – 1600**

“Can you still stand? I’d be deeply disheartened if we were unable to finish this match.” Mammon said in mock sadness with Colt still laden to the ground.

When Colt didn’t respond Mammon took matters into his own hands “Akutoku no Jajjimento! I activate the last card in my hand, the spell **Degradation of Corruption!** ” The card showed purer versions of Corruption Dragon and multiple other monsters slowly decaying into a vat of black acid.

“This card deals you damage 600 points of damage for each monster in my field!” The card glowed a bright blue as it began to collate energy “This should shock you back into action!” The resulting strike fiercely electrocuted Colt’s body as an ear splitting scream could be heard.

Colt’s LP: **1600 – 400**

Colt began to stagger back onto equal footing with his clothes still smoking from the previous assault.

‘Colt we’re taking you out of there.’ Came a voice in Colt’s hidden earpiece ‘You’ve sustained too much damage and we can’t afford to lose you.’

The white haired hunter who was just barely conscious was far too weak to resist the will of his employers, he nodded having suffered what can only be considered abject defeat.

He began to glow a bright blue before vanishing right in front of the stunned Mammon. Handing the corruption duelist the victory but not the one he desired as he too logged out of Vrains.

**(Real World)**

Sateriasis walked out of the access room incredibly pissed. He sat down at his desk banging his fist on the table furiously “Damn him! What a waste of time!”

There was a knock on his door and he begrudgingly dragged himself over to answer it. Opening it revealed none other than Allen.

“Sat we need to talk.” He said matter-of-factly.

Sateriasis just looked at him with half open eyes before slamming the door on Allen’s face.    

“Sateriasis! Sateriasis!” Allen Shouted banging on the door “Open the damn door!” He punched the door unaware that the purple haired teen had relocked it and he wasn’t having any effect.        

_‘Can’t he mind his own business? I don’t go round to his place and attempt to break his door down.’_

Meanwhile in another section of Den city a third party watched over a recording from the back of a hot dog truck.

“Wow. That was just brutal…” Said the owner who had purple hair as he rewatched Sateriasis’ final stream of attacks on Colt “What do you think of this Mammon character, Yusaku?” He asked a teenage boy with fair skin, green eyes, and dark blue hair that spikes outward in the back and contains light blue bangs with pink accents.

He was wearing a slate-colored jacket with light blue trim over a white dress shirt with a blue tie and a pair of black trousers and black and white shoes.

“He’s not Hanoi so he’s none of my concern Shoichi.”

“Figured you’d say that.” Shoichi said switching the recording over to a screen showing all the information he had collected on Mammon.

“He may not be a member of Hanoi but he is certainly an affiliate of theirs, just take a look at his history.” Mammon’s collected history detailed the numerous jobs he had done for Hanoi in the past. “I have reason to believe he’s currently under contract with them.”

‘What!’ Cried Yusaku’s A.I. ‘That means he’s after me!’

“Quiet!” Yusaku said sternly immediately silencing the A.I. “Shoichi what more do you have on him?”

“Sadly not much. He seems to have gone to great lengths to hide information about himself. However I’ve noticed his voice is very unusual as if he was using some sort of algorithm to hide his real voice possibly because he thinks it could lead people to figuring out who he is.” Shoichi explained to the attentive Yusaku who thought over the implications.

_‘What we know about Mammon. One he is clearly an ally of Hanoi, two he wishes to hide all information about himself and three he’s evidently concerned about his voice if he has altered it.’_

“I’ll keep an eye on him for you and call you if he makes a move.” Shoichi said.

“Thanks.” Yusaku replied.

**(The next day)**

***Beep!* *Beep!***

The sound of Sateriasis’ alarm clock roused him rather cantankerously from his sleep “dahhhhhhhhh!” He groaned as the alarm continued to blurt in his ears. He rose slumped over, searching for the snooze button “Why’d I even buy one in the first place…” After multiple attempts his hand finally silenced the alarm.

Dragging himself out of bed Sateriasis got dressed for school wearing the uniform of Den Academy.

**(Time skip)**

“Now class!” The teacher began “We have a new student joining us today so please make him feel welcome!”

‘ _Great…I wonder what idiot they’ve dragged in.’_ Yusaku thought as he heard the footsteps of the new student reverberate through the class, his thoughts were still dominated by Hanoi and this Mammon character.

“Greetings. My name is Sateriasis Marlon. As you know already I’m just recently transferred here.” Sateriasis made no attempt at eye contact with the other students and sounded like he was reading off a teleprompter.

“Thank you very much Sateriasis, please take a seat.” Sateriasis bowed to the teacher then made his way to a spare seat in the same row as Yusaku.

“Returning to where we left off, does anyone know the significance of this name?” The teacher drew ‘MAMMON’ on the board.

Whispers began to float round the duelists in the class, which was nearly all of them. Following the footage that was captured of Sateriasis’ duel with Colt his alter-ego of Mammon had gained widespread publicity.

“Anyone…?” The teacher looked around, finally his eyes found the hand of Sateriasis “Yes!  Marlon!”

Sateriasis stood up “Mammon in demonology is considered to be one of the seven princes of hell as well as the patron demon for the deadly sin of greed. In Hebrew it can also just mean money.” Sateriasis gave the same gesture he gave to Allen the day prior. His thumb and index finger shaped as a circle while holding his palm flat.

“Yes that is correct. You may sit down now Sateriasis.”

Yusaku watched Sateriasis now regarding him with some suspicion _‘Demon of greed…’_

After another thirty minutes or so Sateriasis had fallen asleep as a result of staying up practically all night searching for Colt’s account.

“Hey.” A green haired boy poked Sateriasis’ head trying to wake him, however getting no response “Heyy.” He did it again this time earning a half-hearted swat. “Hey!” He went to poke him again but this time Sateriasis was prepared and caught the green haired boy in his tracks.

“What!” The purple haired male said twisting the other boy’s arm behind his back.

“Give! Give!” The boy cried as the teacher glared at the two of them forcing Sateriasis to release the arm.

“What do you want?” He whispered spitefully

“You’re a duelist aren’t you?” He said pointing towards Sateriasis’ disk.

“Who are you?” Sateriasis said, desperate not to get involved with anyone.

“Well I suppose that’s fine of you to ask considering you are only new here. I’m Nakoi Shima!” Nakoi said giving a smug smile and lifting his arm which had his duel disk attached to it. “Anything you’d like to say?”

“Not really.” Sateriasis commented, with a distinct look of boredom on his face.

Nakoi shoved the disk closer into Sateriasis’ face “Not even about this?”

“Wonderful. A duel disk. I have one too, what’s so special about it?” Sateriasis said dismissively.

“It’s not just any ordinary disk!” Nakoi retained his complete obliviousness to Sateriasis lack of caring “its SOL technologies’ latest disk!” He looked in awe at his disk not noticing Sateriasis had gotten so bored he wasn’t even listening anymore.

“This one has an A.I. that helps you during a duel!”

“People who need an A.I generally strike me as incompetent and weak.” Sateriasis wouldn’t look Nakoi in the eye as he lent back in the chair and twiddled his thumbs.

That commented flew so far over Nakoi’s head it could be considered an airplane “I also get priority access to the VR network, Link VRAINS!” His pointed his disk towards Sateriasis’ tablet and pushed a button causing several screens to pop up, each one showing a different duelist in VRAINS.

“Ever go there yourself?”

“Don’t be stupid!” Nakoi exclaimed once again catching the teacher’s attention reigning in the boy’s enthusiasm.

‘Stupid is a prohibited word.’ The A.I. responded which amused Sateriasis as to why SOL would have a prohibited word function.

“It’s a sacred gathering place for long-time duelists! Charisma Duelists go there too! It’s not as easy as you might think!”

“Alright point taken.” Sateriasis said peaking at his level of disinterest, his hand was the only thing that was keeping his head in place.

“But maybe one day in the future I’ll go to link VRAINS and possibly meet Charisma Duelists.” Nakoi said looking hopeful “Maybe even Playmaker!”

In the shock of hearing Playmaker’s name, Sateriasis forgot about his arm being the only stabilizing factor. “Owww…” He said rubbing the point of impact.

“Playmaker you say?” He asked Nakoi slyly.

“Yeah! He’s the hottest duelist right now,” Nakoi explained “he fights the Knights of Hanoi, a group of hackers who commit crimes in link VRAINS!”

“Do you have any picture of Playmaker or any clue to his real life identity?” Sateriasis was curious, maybe if he found the real life Playmaker he wouldn’t need to do it all himself, not that he had any problem with that.

“Of course not!” Nakoi said once again oblivious to Sateriasis’ emotion “He’s so cool because no one knows his identity. I want to become a duelist of justice just like Playmaker!” He shouted, striking a pose. However he spoke a little too loudly and for the third time was caught out by the teacher.

“You prat…” Sateriasis sneered under his breath.

“But there is one person I do worry about meeting…” Nakoi said, sweating a little.

“Oh? Who would that be?” Sateriasis asked knowingly.

“Mammon…” Nakoi etched out “He’s just really scary…” Sateriasis inwardly laughed, not minding the reputation he had built for himself, welcoming it in fact.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s a bounty hunter who has absolutely no concern for who he harms, even those caught in the crossfire.” Sateriasis didn’t like the last part, never once had he injured someone other than his target.

“Hmmm. I see the issue you have with his methods but you don’t know his motivation, maybe this is the only way for him. Is his identity known?” Sateriasis asked to see if his pro cautions were effective in disguising him.

“No. Just like Playmaker It’s unknown who he is in real life. That’s another thing that makes him so scary, he could be anyone!” Sateriasis was satisfied with the answer he had received but knew he stood no chance when faced with an experienced hacker.

“Suppose so, after all in the virtual world you don’t know who is hiding behind that mask.”

A thought occurred Nakoi just as Sateriasis thought he’d successfully shut down the conversation “Say! How about joining Duel Club?”

“Thanks but no thanks. I’m not interested in joining a silly little club.” His second attempt to shoot down the conversation met with little success.

“But it’s a great opportunity to socialize and make friends! Also it helps improve your skills, we’re always looking for new members.”

“When in a hole don’t keep digging.” Sateriasis followed it up by saying “In layman’s terms that means zip it.”    

‘ _Layman’s terms… Just like Mammon.’_ Numerous viewings of the recording and other clips of Mammon’s duels that had surfaced, Yusaku had discovered Mammon had a distinct speech pattern much like his own.

“Oi! Zaizen, help me out here. I’m trying to get this guy to join us at the duel club, but he’s being stubborn.” Nakoi said to a girl sat not too far away.

“If he doesn’t want to do it then don’t force it upon him.” She was a girl, with light brown hair in a bob-cut and yellow eyes “No one is going to join if they don’t want to.”

“But the president said we need new members! He’s even got a relatively up to date disk!” The girl sighed as she turned round to face Sateriasis.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Aoi Zaizen.” To Sateriasis she seemed far too timid “Would you like to join the Duel Club?”

“No, as stated before I’m not interested in a waste of my time.”

“There you go Shima, he doesn’t have any interest in joining.” Sateriasis mentally praised the girl for how blunt to the point attitude and for getting Nakoi off his back or so he thought.

“Am I seriously the only one here who takes duel club seriously?” Nakoi wondered aloud before talking to what Sateriasis hoped for the final time “Look you don’t have to join, just consider it, right? Personally I just think people shouldn’t spend their time alone…”

Sateriasis seemed to be struck at the very core by that last part. _‘Sateriasis no man is an island, sooner rather than later you’re going to have to branch out, I can’t always be there, without proper support a building cannot sustain itself.’_

“Actually…Nakoi was it? Upon further consideration, I will join the club might do me good.” This was the conversation snapper since it was apparently enough to nullify Nakoi as he returned to his seat.

**(Time skip)**

Sateriasis dressed in his casual attire walked solemnly through Den city with only one thought on his mind as he passed by a sign that said ‘Hospital’

He staggered sluggishly through the entrance and up to the reception where he was greeted by a smiling face behind the desk. “Hi there Sateriasis!” He was greeted happily, “Is this the usual?” Sateriasis nodded glumly, not wishing to speak.

“I see…” He was then handed a card “You know the room number well enough by now there’s no point in me saying.”

Sateriasis turned off, walking down the corridor to the only room he was concerned about, no one else mattered to him.

He opened the door, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down beside the medium sized hospital bed that contained on it a teenage girl with medium length lime green hair.

“Hey there, it’s me again,” Sateriasis’ voice for once had some degree of emotion in it “you must be getting annoyed by how often I come.” He laughed to himself.  

“But I’ve got big news for the two of us,” Sateriasis had brought the envelope he had received the previous day “my employer just handed me a huge payday and I intend do my upmost to help them. But I never forget who I’m doing this for in the first place.”

Tears swelled ever so slightly in the hunter’s eyes as he lent on the bed “I can never forgive myself for what happened, it’s all my fault you are in here and I’m going to fix it, no matter what I have to do.”

 


	2. Mammon's Court

"Master Revolver are you sure it's wise to trust Mammon?" In a hidden corner of the digital world two people debated the loyalty of their most trusted affiliate. The one who was currently talking had grey hair, light blue eyes and wore a white suit along with white shoes.

"Yes, Spectre, he's never failed us before and I don't see any reason why he won't be able to assist us in our quest." Revolver had tanned skill, yellow eyes, and black hair highlighted with orange and red. He wore a mask made of yellow glass and a white casing with four white dots centred on his forehead. His clothes were, a white jumpsuit, trench coat, gloves, and black boots.

"But Sir, he could double cross us at any moment!" Spectre said.

"There are three reasons why he won't do that Spectre. One: He holds the cyber world responsible for the current condition of the only person he ever held dear, his sister who's comatose in hospital. Two: We are his main benefactor that provide him with the very money he needs to help improve his sister's condition, he's a logical person so he knows better than to betray us. Three: As pre mentioned his record with us is 100% I've got no concerns that he will fail."

Spectre was still unsure but decided against further questioning "Alright sir if you trust him then I've got no qualms."

Sateriasis still hadn't left the side of the hospital bed that contained his unconscious sister, he passed the time talking aloud in the hope that she would hear him and singing his personal favourite song.

"If I want to see all of my deep desires come true then swing yes, I must with my hammer of unjust for you…" He sung softly, hugging his sister's body with the upmost care he could.

His eyes went down to the envelope that was currently sat on his lap, "I'll leave this with you, my employer's been very generous in allowing to take the payment now." Sateriasis stood up and left the envelope on his chair "I have to leave now it's getting late, don't worry I'll be back again tomorrow." He slowly left the room with an evident look of sadness plastered on his face.

He continued out to the foyer not making eye contact nor speaking to anyone that he happened to come across.

(The next day) 

Sateriasis sat in the dark behind his desk with only the computer illuminating the room. On the screen was a flowing stream of code that was indecipherable to the untrained eye.   
As Sateriasis continued the code began to warp more and more before finally becoming fully corrupted, potentially devastating virus. He then copied the code onto his disk, deleting any remnants of it from his computer.

"That's the last time I ever do that…" Sateriasis promptly collapsed passed out from prolonged periods without sleep.

*Beep!* *Beep!*

"Jesus Christ!" Sateriasis had been asleep for roughly 3.8 seconds when his alarm clock startled him awake.

"I'll sleep it off in class, hopefully no one will notice." He muttered groggily whilst getting dressed.

True to his word as soon as Sateriasis made contact with his seat he buckled over totally down for the count and come hell or high water it would take a mammoth effort to wake him.

Sat not too far away from the sleeping Sateriasis, Naoki was watching what appeared to be a live broadcast from Link VRAINS, right beside Naoki was Yusaku who was on the verge of sleep himself only to be halted from doing so by Naoki's obsessive fanboying.

"Hey! Hey! Did you watch Playmaker's duel against that Knight of Hanoi?!"

"No." Yusaku said bluntly.

"And you call yourself a duelist." Yusaku didn't reply leading Naoki to continue.

"I was there watching! It was really inspiring! Playmaker's so cool!" Naoki said this loud enough to slightly stir the virtually dead to the world Sateriasis, enough for him to mutter "Shut up you twat…"

Then Naoki noticed something missing from Yusaku's person "Where's your disk?"

"I left at home. It is house sitting." Yusaku said dismissively.

"Do they have house sitting functions?" Naoki wondered aloud "Anyways, I keep watching live footage of link VRAINS so that I can't miss when Playmaker shows u-" Nakoi's sudden pause caught Yusaku's attention.

"That's Hanoi!" Naoki shouted at nearly full capacity, almost like a foghorn, making Sateriasis' face cringe.

"What is it? I was just explaining the tower of Hanoi…" The teacher said, unsure of what had caused Naoki's outburst.

"Hanoi! It's a knight of Hanoi!" He held out his tablet and sure enough riding a D-board was the Knight of Hanoi in question issuing his challenge to Playmaker.

"Look!" He went to show it to Yusaku but he had vanished without a trace leaving Naoki talking to himself. Everyone else was either in a state of confusion or shock, so they too didn't see Yusaku depart.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Naoki spied Sateriasis nearby and went to tell him about the Knight. "Hey Marlon…" He shook Sateriasis who in turn muttered again, now half-awake "Get off me…" Naoki didn't get the idea and shook him again fully awaking the sleeping beast.

"What is it?!" Sateriasis said displeased his formerly peaceful sleep had been disrupted.

Naoki then showed Sateriasis his tablet, the hunter's face turned quickly from one of intense anger into one of intense thought. "It's one of the Knights of Hanoi, Y'know the group I told you about the other day."

'Something about this just doesn't sit right…' Sateriasis brought a finger to his chin 'If this is a proper knight Revolver evidently doesn't trust me but I know for a fact that he does, so that only leaves the possibility that this is an imposter.'

"So what do you think?" Naokki asked earnestly.

"I think it's best if you just observe and not make any rash judgments." Sateriasis switched the screen on his own tablet to that of live footage of Link VRAINS

As soon as he had tuned in to watch, he gazed upon the two individuals and let out a small inward laugh, one of them was indeed Playmaker but the other one was a bulky male that Sateriasis knew all too well 'Go Onizuka, I wonder who gave you that disguise.' 

He had joined just before Go started his turn, Go began by summoning two of his Gouki monsters, Suprex and Twistcobra to the field before passing his turn.

'You've got no chance if you think that outdated mess of a plan holds any water.' Sateriasis thought, mocking Go's style of dueling harshly.

Playmaker took his turn and summoned a new monster, Linkslayer, to go alongside Cyberse Wizard. He uses the latter's effect and targeted Gouki Suprex with it, changing it to defence mode and giving all Cyberse-type monsters piercing effect, at the cost of only being able to attack Gouki Suprex.

Playmaker used Linkslayer to attack Suprex and sliced Go's LP in half with a single attack Impressing the hunter greatly.

'You astound me more and more Playmaker. I look forward to testing myself against you.'

After several seconds of silence where all that could be heard was the rush of the wind, Go activated his Skill, Fighting Spirit, reviving all destroyed Gouki monsters. He then proceeded with starting his turn and summoned a third Gouki monster, Riscorpio. He then used the three he'd gathered monsters to Link summon his ace monster: Gouki the Great Ogre.

'People say they sometimes see themselves in their monsters, I concur, Go fits that profile.' 

The effects of Gouki monsters sent to the graveyard then activated, allowing Go add three new Gouki cards from his deck to his hand. He used them right away to power up his Great Ogre's ATK up to 5700 and gather two monsters, Twistcobra and Headbatt.

'You're in trouble Playmaker, one wrong move and you're done for, show me why Revolver deems you a threat!' 

Since the ATK of Playmaker's monsters dropped by a huge amount thanks to the effect of Great Ogre, it seemed as he was going to lose with one hit, but Playmaker activated his Trap Card, Cyberse Shutter which nullified the gained boost thanks to Headbatt.

'Misplay! Game Over!' Sateriasis became certain that Playmaker was about to meet his end in Go's next turn if he didn't make a miraculous comeback.

However before Playmaker could start his turn, an emergency exit appeared. 'What the hell?!' Sateriasis shouted in his mind, he cursed the person that created the exit and expected his target to slip away but much to his shock as well the others watching the duel, Playmaker ignored the doorway out.

"There are three reasons why I'm continuing with this duel!" Playmaker exclaimed beginning his explanation.

'Three reasons…Just like Revolver does…Just like Gumina did.' Sateriasis' usually calculated, emotionless demeanor faltered as he began to think of his two closest relationships, Revolver was probably the only person he was even relatively cordial with more so than Allen and his dear sister Gumina the one he fought for.

After making his explanation, Playmaker used something that Sateriasis was unware that he had, Playmaker's skill, Storm Access allowing him to access a never before seen link monster when his life points went below the 1000 mark. 'Using the opponent's strength to your advantage, you're crafty Playmaker, I'll make sure to look out for that.'

During his next turn and after consecutive Link Summons, he gathered the winning team for today's Duel. Using Link Bumper's effect, he made Decode Talker attack consecutive time while Honeybot protected his monsters. After destroyed Gouki the Great Ogre, thanks to the effect of Cyberse Annihilation, he inflicted 2600 damage to Go wiping away the latter's LP.

'Playmaker…You were involved in that incident as well…' Sateriasis switched his tablet off as Nakoi went to speak to him.

"Did you watch the duel?" Naoki didn't even wait for Sateriasis to answer before opening his mouth again "That's why Playmaker is so cool! Even when pinned in a corner he wins! It's just incredible!"

"As a matter of fact I did watch it and I admit it was an impressive comeback." Sateriasis said rather dismissively of the whole situation. While watching the duel had provided valuable information about how Playmaker dueled, he wasn't the least bit interested in discussing it with Naoki whom he was already mentally labelling a fanboy.

"Come on show a bit of enthusiasm, you're almost as bad Fujiki!"

"Fujiki?" Sateriasis inquired.

"You don't know him?" Sateriasis nodded.

"How?! He practically sits right next to you!" Naoki said surprised at Sateriasis' obliviousness

"Guess I didn't notice him." Sateriasis shrugged with a blasé tone.

"Anyway…" Naoki shifted the topic "Don't forget to come to duel club today!"

Sateriasis groaned, before dismissively waving Naoki off with his right hand "Yeah, yeah I won't." However in his disdain for the situation, he let something slip. Something Naoki noticed immediately.

"What's that?" Naoki pointed towards something blue imprinted on Sateriasis' palm.

Alarmed, Sateriasis shoved the hand in his pocket "Nothing!"

"Really? It sure looked like something." Naoki inquired, not letting the uncomfortable Sateriasis shut down the conversation.

"Yes! Can't you mind your own damn business?!" Sateriasis' discomfort turned to outright ire.

"Sorry. I was just curious that's all." Naoki relented causing Sateriasis to recompose himself.

"That's fine, just don't mention it again." Once he was certain Naoki wasn't going to bother him, Sateriasis took his right hand out again, hiding it so no one else could see. He sat there the rest of the time until duel club, just thinking.

By the time he had arrived all the other members of the club were there. Naoki and Aoi were the only two with whom he'd any form of contact with. The one who approached had glasses and black hair swept to the right, "Are you here to join?" He asked hopefully.

"I am indeed. I'm freshman Sateriasis Marlon." Sateriasis said bowing, making sure as hell no one else noticed his mark.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hosoda, Club president." Hosoda said, happy for the new member.

"I'm Tanaka, second-year," a short boy with red hair pulled back into a ponytail said.

"I'm also second year. Sato," a boy even fatter than Naoki with slicked back teal hair and spectacles said.

"I'm freshman Suzuki," a tall boy with brown hair in a bowl cut said.

"I'm freshman Zaizen," Aoi said as if she'd not spoken to Sateriasis the other day. Granted he'd said roughly four words to her so it was probably safe to assume that she'd thought he'd forgotten her name.

"Anyone see Playmaker's duel today? Or yesterday?" Naoki said embracing his fanboy side again.

"Yeah. He did a really good in his comeback against Go and the monster he summoned to defeat that knight of Hanoi was really cool!" Sato said "What was its name again?"

"Decode Talker." Aoi answered bluntly.

"Playmaker really stepped up his game, that monster's so cool and powerful!" Naoki said with stars in his eyes "It might even be stronger than Mammon's ace!"

'Only over my dead body is that card stronger than Corruption Dragon.' Sateriasis thought secretly seething with rage at Nakoi even suggesting that any card was stronger than Corruption Dragon.

"I don't believe you're taking all of Corruption Dragon's effects into account." Aoi said.

"Well, which one do you think is better president?" Naoki asked.

"Both of them have very similar effects and are on a similar power level, so it's hard to decide which one is stronger." Hosoda said.

"I have to agree with Shima on this one." Sato said.

"Me too, Decode Talker just looks better." Tanaka added much to the growing annoyance of Sateriasis 'Looks better? You idiot, since when were the best looking cards in particular the most powerful.'

"I disagree, Corruption Dragon is the more potent of the two." Suzuki's comment made the hunter smirk slightly.

"It's just you two now, Zaizen and Marlon which do you think is the better card?"

Sateriasis spoke first "Personally I haven't seen Corruption Dragon and have only briefly seen Decode Talker, so I'm not really in a position to comment on which one is the most powerful."

"Zaizen?"

"It's hard to pick since they both have their pros and cons. Decode Talker can only gain attack if there is a monster linked to it, if there isn't it remains a 2300 attack point monster.   
On the other hand Corruption Dragon starts off slightly stronger but just like Decode Talker it requires the presence of another monster to unleash its full power." Aoi explained all the while looking at Sateriasis who was giving off a strange aura.

If she was to believe his words then he was just another ordinary person, however she felt something unsettling about him, like there was another side to him he was hiding.

"I'd say it would be a tie if they were to battle."

"Then that makes it 3 to 1. Decode Talker wins!" Hosoda declared. "Now if we're done comparing cards let's start with the meeting."

A few minutes later Aoi approached Sateriasis who was sitting by himself staring at the roof.

"Ahem…" Clearing her throat to catch his attention "I was just wondering Marlon if you could tell me about your deck?"

She expected him to be very uptight and defensive and to a certain extent he was "Why? I mean I don't see any issue with it, I'm just wondering why you're interested in it."

"Just curious."

"Fine." Sateriasis reached into his right jacket pocket and slid out a deck, handing it over to Aoi "The deck's a family heirloom, it's been passed down from father to son." Sateriasis equivocated, this deck was a fake but the real one was a hand-me-down.

The deck while it was fake, certainly was not weak or poorly built, after years of scavenging for deals and 'shrewd business' Sateriasis had amassed a collection of powerful cards.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Naoki asked leaning over Sateriasis' shoulder, intruding on the half conversation half interrogation. His eyes widened when he saw some of the dummy deck's cards.

"Where'd you get those?!" He swiped it from Aoi and fanned it out.

"For your consideration, my father owned these cards when he was around, upon his passing they were transferred into my possession."

"Your father must've been some big shot at SOL or something because these cards are amazing." Naoki said in growing amazement at every card he saw pass.  
Suddenly Aoi gasped catching both of the boys' attention, "Any reason why you did that?" Sateriasis asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered something…" She apologized. 'I need to ask brother for conformation.' 

(Later)

"Time to test my might." Sateriasis muttered as he made the final preparations for the up and coming bout against his target. 'Everything has to go smoothly, let's see…' Sateriasis went through his mental checklist 'D-Board…Check, deck…Check, now all that's left is to issue the challenge.' Sateriasis' face transformed into the crazed look of Mammon 'And I know just how to do it…' 

Mammon surfed on his own D-Board that had been gifted to him as a reward for previous jobs. It was effectively the same as the ones used by the Knights of Hanoi that was white, had purple gems and a green semi-circle.

"You rolling?" He asked the petrified pigeon which flew beside him, who gulped and nodded "Great! Playmaker, the time has come for us to duel!"

The people outside of VRAINS gathered in the city centre, around the screens in a mixture of disbelief and anticipation.

"I know you'll be hesitant to face me but I've got news for you!" People began to murmur about what Mammon meant by this.

"Currently in my possession is a virus of my own making and if you don't show yourself I'll release it upon the entire system, corrupting it in a matter of seconds!" This stunning revelation shocked everyone in the surrounding area excluding the person who this threat was directed to, who watched on alongside Shoichi.

"Yusaku, he means business." Shoichi commented as Mammon began to issue the final part of his challenge speech.

"Now the choice is up to you Playmaker, either you face me in the field of battle or you run with your tail between your legs and allow all of Link VRAINS to be destroyed! You've got three minutes to decide! Now make your choice!"

"The infamous Mammon has issued one hell of a challenge to Playmaker!" The MC announced to the crowd who were still recovering from the shock. "If he fails to show then all of link VRAINS will fall victim to Mammon's deadly virus!"

"Come on Playmaker!" Someone from the crowd shouted in the hope the hero would hear the cry.

The cry was picked up by someone else and pretty soon almost everyone was chanting "Playmaker!" Everyone except the black haired acquaintance of Sateriasis who was busy mumbling into his hand. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Back in VRAINS Mammon continued wait whilst getting his feet re accustomed to the D-Board, spending too much time doing master duels had left him rusty. 'Playmaker, I know you can't hear my thoughts but I really wish you show up, I need to talk to you about that incident.' Feeling comfortable enough in his grip Mammon jumped to the nearest building and glided in as the time limit he'd set continued to dwindle

It was then with less than a minute left, a portal appeared and out of it, Playmaker landed, on the same building with a look of steely determination and undaunted mettle.

"The hero of VRAINS finally shows!" Mammon wouldn't dare let his true emotions be known and continued to camouflage himself behind the mask of insanity. "I take it that you're here to duel."

"Yes I accept your challenge." Playmaker said coolly "Stop your virus."

"Say no more…" Mammon deactivated the virus much to the salvation of Playmaker's AI.

'Oh thank you Playmaker! I thought for sure I was done for! Now let's beat this lunatic!' The Ai's over bloated statement caused Mammon to turn his attention to the eye.

"If it isn't the Ai that's got everyone whipped into a frenzy," Mammon said smirking "Revolver would be most pleased if I not only destroy Playmaker but also retrieve you."  
The eye cowered in fear and retreated deep into Playmaker's disk 'He is with Hanoi.' Playmaker now became even more determined to defeat the crazed Mammon.

"Now if there's no issues…" Mammon lifted off from the building, touching down on his board hard "Let's begin!" Playmaker's board came into position behind Mammon's and he too landed on his board beginning the Speed duel.

Watching on with interest was Revolver who was flanked by Spectre to his left, to his right was is a tall man, who had fair skin. He had black and grey hair and mustache, and yellow eyes. He wore a white coat with red outlines, a dark undershirt with red stripe, some black trousers and a pair of brown shoes.

"Time to see just how strong Playmaker really is…" Revolver commented.

Mammon: 4000 LP Playmaker: 4000 LP Cards x4

Turn 1

"He who strikes first wins!" Mammon took the first turn as his hand appeared before him, he mapped out the multiple possibilities mentally "To begin I set one monster facedown and place another card one facedown in the Spell/Trap zone, that'll be all for now." The timidity of the hunter's first turn came as a surprise to many of the people watching. But his associates knew his plan well.

"He's using that strategy." Allen commented with a grin to rival Mammon's.

Revolver too recognised the true power of the seemingly weak opening move "Welcome to Mammon's court, Playmaker."

Mammon's cards x2

Turn 2

"My turn, I draw! To start I summon Cyberse Wizard!" A young man in a cybernetic wizard outfit appeared.

Cyberse Wizard: LVL 4, LIGHT, CYBERSE (1800/800)

"You seem to have an affinity for that monster the amount of times you've used it." Playmaker played no heed to Mammon's remark as he continued on with his turn.

"Since there's no main phase 2 I'll place one card facedown then I attack your facedown monster with Cyberse Wizard!" The wizard charged at the facedown monster, flipping it face up, showing it to be a demented green imp that had black markings all over its body.

"The monster you just destroyed was the level 4 Corruption Ritual Imp! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the monster that vanquished it loses 1000 attack points." Out of the purple vortex CRI materialised and latched onto the back Cyberse Wizard, visibly draining the monster's power.

Wizard's ATK: 1800 – 800

"At the end of your turn I activate my continuous trap Endless Corruption!" The card depicted CRI falling into a pit while in the background Corruption Dragon could be seen lying in wait. "At the end of a turn where a monster of mine was destroyed by battle I can add one monster from my deck to hand that has the same level as the destroyed one." He choose his card quickly as it became his turn.

Playmaker's Cards x2

Turn 3

"I draw! I summon Paladin of Corruption." The half pure knight gave a quick slash as he came into position.

Paladin of Corruption Level 4, FIEND, Dark (1600/1200)

"Now I activate his effect! By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can deal you damage equal to half my monster's attack points!" Mammon turned as Paladin of Corruption's sword began to charge with black energy "In layman's terms that's 800 points of damage!" Playmaker was struck violently by Paladin, nearly knocking him off his board.

Playmaker's LP: 4000 – 3200

"Unfortunately this card can't attack the turn it activates this effect but that means nothing! Since there's a corruption monster on my field that has 2000 or less attack points I can summon Corruption Gear."

Corruption gear Level 2, FIEND, Dark (0/1000)

"Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are two level 4 or lower Corruption monsters, I set Paladin of Corruption and Corruption Gear in the link markers. Circuit combine! Link 2! Corruption Necromancer!"

Corruption Necromancer was a cloaked figure that seemed to be chanting something under its breath, it held a black book that had multiple symbols on it. Underneath the cloak it also had unnatural glowing red eyes.

Corruption Necromancer, Link 2, FIEND, DARK (1600) Markers:Bottom, Top

'That monster's really creepy! Suits the maniac if you ask me!' AI had regained enough bravado to make his presence known.

"I activate Necromancer's effect. By paying 500 life points I can summon back one corruption monster from my graveyard but it is prevented from attacking for this turn."   
Necromancer began to open the graveyard portal and ascending from the depths came "Corruption Gear return to the field."

Mammon's LP: 4000 – 3500

"Appear once again the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed. I set Corruption Gear and Corruption Necromancer in the link markers. Circuit combine! Descend now, Link 3 Essence of Greed – Corruption Dragon!" The huge dragon appeared with a thunderous clap of its wings and a deafening screech.

Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark, (2400) Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right.

'It's that card again.' Playmaker recognised Mammon's ace in an instant but kept himself composed for the task ahead, AI on the other hand wasn't handling it quite as well.  
'AHH! What is that abomination?!' AI exclaimed in unadulterated fear.

Mammon didn't care much for the AI's opinion, continuing on with his turn "To follow, I set one card facedown then Corruption Dragon will attack Cyberse Wizard. Judgment of Corruption."

"Trap activate! Three Strikes Barrier!" Playmaker shouted "When you control exactly three cards on your field I can choose one of three effects! I can either prevent the destruction of my monster, nullify the battle damage I'll receive or I can gain life points equal to the damage my monsters will deal. In this case I choose to prevent my monster from being destroyed!" The resulting shields blocked Cyberse Wizard but the damage was still felt by Playmaker.

Playmaker's LP: 3200 – 1600

'He's getting dangerously close to below 1000 life points, the next move is critical.' Mammon thought.

Mammon's Cards x1

Turn 4

'I'll destroy Hanoi and anyone related to them. This duel ends this turn.' Playmaker thought as he drew his card for the turn. "To begin, I normal summon Stack Reviver!" A small robot appeared.

Stack Reviver, Level 2, Cyberse, DARK, (100/600)

"Since I already control a cyberse monster I can special summon Backup Secretary!"

Backup Secretary, Level 3, Cyberse, LIGHT, (1200/800) 

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future." A circuit appeared in front of Playmaker, "Arrowheads, confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least 2 or more effect monsters! I set Stack Reviver, Cyberse Wizard, and Backup Secretary in the Link Markers!" Playmaker's three Cyberse monsters flew toward the top, bottom-left, and bottom-right markers, glowing red. "Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! Decode Talker!"

Digital data started pulling themselves together as they materialized into a warrior with blue armour and purple outlines along with a sword. The warrior let out a battle cry as it broke the Link Gate.

Decode Talker, Link 3, DARK, Cyberse (2300) Markers: Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.

"Decode Talker," Mammon said looking at Playmaker's ace "it certainly looks impressive but I need evidence that it lives up to that tag."

"I activate the effect of Stack Reviver from the graveyard, since it was sent there as material for a link summon I can revive one level 4 or lower cyberse monster. I resurrect Backup Secretary in defence mode!" Said monster came back into being.

"Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster linked to it, so far the only monster linked to it is my Backup Secretary. Power Integration!"

Decode Talker ATK: 2300 – 2800

"Battle! Decode Talker attack Corruption Dragon! Decode End!" Decode swung at Corruption Dragon, tearing through the dragon's armour and obliterating the massive beast but leaving behind a residue of energy.

Mammon's LP: 3500 – 3100

"Trap activate. Reflected Corruption!" Mammon's new trap showed one of his monsters holding up a mirror "Since you destroyed Corruption Dragon I can activate this card and with it I can deal you damage equivalent to what I just took. Layman's terms dictates that'd be 400." The leftover energy was sucked into the card, before then blasting out.

Playmaker's LP: 1600 – 1200

"I'm not done yet either. I activate my skill Life Corruption! Once per duel, I deal my opponent 200 points of damage for each corruption monster in my graveyard! Corruption Ritual Imp, Corruption Necromancer, Corruption Dragon, Paladin of corruption, Corruption Gear are the ones that currently occupy it. That's 1000 points." Playmaker was enveloped by a purple aura as his life points decreased further.

Playmaker's LP: 1200 - 200 

'Playmaker! You're on thin ice now!' AI shouted at his captor, scared at what may happen if Playmaker were to lose.

"Calm down. I'm not going to lose." Playmaker said sternly.

"I activate Cyberse Beat down! By paying half my life points I can activate this card during the battle phase of a turn when a Cyberse monster has successfully destroyed another monster via battle! The monster gains an attack boost of 500 and gets to attack again!"

Mammon was just as determined in his conviction "No way! No way! No way! I too activate the last card in my hand. When I'm the recipient of a direct attack I can activate the effect of Corruption Distributer! By sending this monster from my hand to the graveyard we both receive the same amount of damage." The monster appeared just before Decode Talker was able to land the finishing blow.

"If I'm going down, I'll take you with me!" The creature was annihilated and the resulting blast tore Mammon from his board, forcing him to activate a black energy whip to prevent contact from the ground below, landing on a nearby roof.

Playmaker's LP: 100 – 0

Mammon's LP: 3100 – 0

Draw!

"Who would've thought Playmaker to have been such a dark horse?" Revolver commented now certain of what he had to do.

Allen mumbled into his hand again "You got lucky Sat and you know it."

"A draw…" Shoichi muttered with a sigh of relief "You had me worried Yusaku."

Playmaker landed on the same roof, his eyes filled with pure hatred.

"Congratulations Playmaker, you managed to force my hand and for that you must be skilled." Mammon said, ignoring the look he was getting. "Before you leave allow me to ask you one question."

'Why should we listen to you?!' AI said angrily.

"Shut it." Playmaker said harshly. "I'll allow it."

"Why do you fight the knights of Hanoi? What have you to gain from doing so?"

Playmaker thought for a moment before answering "I fight because I have reason to believe they had a hand in an incident I was involved years ago, I fight to discover the secrets of my past."

"Think of three things." Mammon held three fingers up "Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy. By thinking you can still live. Sound   
familiar?"

Playmaker stayed silent so Mammon continued "If you want to know, someone close to me was involved in that incident as well, they told me about the person that 'saved' them by talking about that rule of three. She said she wished to speak to that person again and to see if they were still in captivity there and if so save them."

"Let me ask you a question then. Why are you fighting for Hanoi?" Playmaker's question caught Mammon out of the blue.

"Why should I?"

'Because we answered yours!'

"I don't take orders from an AI! They're a plague that needs to be eliminated." Mammon snapped back "However I will answer a question from a real person. The reason I ally myself with Hanoi is very simple really. Money makes the mare go. In layman's terms I'll do anything if paid well enough. " Mammon's previously insane look returned in full force.

The two stared at each other for a while, until eventually Mammon decided he had enough waiting around for a reply. "If you think you can fight the Knights of Hanoi by yourself you're insane. This isn't over yet, I'll return and when I do the outcome will be different." Mammon then teleported away leaving Playmaker by himself.

'Thank god we finally got rid of that creep for good! He was starting get on my nerves anyway.'

"Don't be certain. Just as he said, he's coming back." Playmaker then logged out of VRAINS.

However listening in on this conversation was an attentive Colt 'Just as I suspected.' He then removed his mask revealing not only his steel grey eyes but also a tattoo of a green flame on his forehead 'Mammon I don't agree with how you're going about this but I promise to make the people responsible repent for what they did to us.' He too left with priceless information on Mammon to give to SOL upon his return.

(Hanoi Base)   
Mammon materialized in the cybernetic Hanoi base, in total abject dismay almost at the state of tears "I'm such a failure…I failed Revolver…I failed Gumina…"

"You haven't failed just yet Mammon." Said Revolver appearing alongside Spectre.

"What do you mean? I failed in my task. Playmaker survived." Mammon just couldn't understand the leader's reasoning.

"You've shown that Playmaker isn't invincible, that he can be dealt with in one way or another." Spectre said whilst Mammon still tried to wrap his head around this.

"We may not have won the battle this time but this is a long term business there will be more to come and it is inevitable we'll prevail for three reasons. One: Playmaker works alone, he hasn't the ability to keep this level of work. Two: It is certain that SOL is also looking for that AI, without a doubt they will send one of their lackeys after Playmaker leaving fight a two fronted assault. Three: As Spectre said your duel has shown me the way forward." Revolver explained to the hunter.

"I understand what you're saying, although I will still consider this a failure." Mammon didn't wait for the response before logging out.

The real world Colt walked to meet with his current employer. Colt was 6ft flat, his electric light blue hair was comparably as long as Sateriasis' if not just slightly shorter. Just as his VRAINS avatar the green flame tattoo was imprinted on the centre of his forehead. He was wearing a red V-Neck shirt underneath a grey suit jacket, with brown trousers and black combat boots. He like Sateriasis and Allen was sixteen years old.

"Zaizen," Colt spoke to his boss, the current Security Manager of SOL, Akira Zaizen step-brother to Aoi. Akira was a fair skinned young man of twenty-six with blue and teal hair and pink eyes. He wore a suit which consisted of a blue coat with a darker one underneath, a white shirt, and a black tie. He also sported blue trousers and black shoes. "I assume you watched the Mammon and Playmaker spat."

"That's right." Akira conducted himself in a very typical business-like manner "Two of the system's biggest rouges facing each other."

"I wanted to say that I believe two things now. One, in my opinion Playmaker must be dealt with as soon as possible."

"Agreed. What was your other point?"

"My second point was that, there may be more to Mammon than meets the eye."  
Akira seemed stunned that Colt even suggested there was another side to Mammon "What on earth do you mean?"

Colt pointed to his tattoo "Are you aware of something called the Inferno Project?"

"Gumina I'm so sorry…" After logging out of the digital world, Sateriasis immediately left for the hospital. "I wasn't thinking clearly and let my judgment be clouded." He sat with his eyes closed only exposing himself to the sound of the real world.

He heard the door to the room open turning around he saw that in the doorway stood a tall young, fair skinned teen with black spiky hair. On his right hand, he had a tattoo in the shape of a mirror that was a bright yellow in colour he was wearing a yellow shirt underneath a white suit jacket, with black trousers and black trainers.

"Sateriasis." Allen spoke out to his friend.

"What do you want Allen?" Sateriasis wasn't interested in speaking to anyone refusing to even open his eyes as Allen pulled up another seat.

"I saw your duel with Playmaker and decided it was necessary to talk with the demon of greed. Avaritia himself." Allen said keeping his voice low but it still had a distinct hint of pride in it.

"Don't call me that Superbia." Sateriasis snapped putting heavy emphasize on the last word.

"Alright. I won't. However I still want to talk about that Playmaker duel."

"I wasn't thinking clearly alright! I had other things on my mind." Sateriasis admitted "I got lucky that I even had that card in my hand to begin with." When he heard Allen fail to stifle a laugh Sateriasis' eyes shot open "At least I haven't got my head wedged up my ass and actually have the ability to admit when I'm wrong!"

Allen remained silent, shooting Sateriasis a dirty look. In response Sateriasis showed Allen the palm of his right hand. Fulling showing off to Allen what Nakoi had noticed earlier on. "All of us bear the marking of our vices. Mine represents excessive greed and avarice. Yours, a mirror for self-confidence and extreme hubris."

Allen fidgeted in response "Alright Sat. Point taken."

"The last promise I ever made to my father was to take care of and protect Gumina from harm but as you can see I failed."


End file.
